


Bounty hunting is a complicated profession

by Sandzlib



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Muteness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:27:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29137065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandzlib/pseuds/Sandzlib
Summary: What if, instead of finding The Child in Arvala-7, the mandalorian had found a girl?But you were not just a normal girl, you had certain abilities (or powers as some called them) that made you the most wanted being in the universe.Will this mandalorian be a friend or another foe?
Relationships: Din Djarin/Reader
Comments: 18
Kudos: 63





	1. Found

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains some mention of physical abuse/rape. It's not specific nor detailed but I wanted to warn beforehand.  
> Also, this is my first fic so thanks for the support and I hope you like it.

You were on your way to have lunch, just outside the repair facility where you worked, when you heard them. Tie fighters. Before you had time to react, to run or to hide, the explosion hit you and you were thrown across the street and against a wall.

Chaos surrounded you. There were cries, dust, and smoke everywhere. You tried to lift yourself from the ground and that's when your head started spinning and you lost consciousness.

Your ears were still ringing from the explosion when you opened your eyes. You instantly regretted it, as bright light hit you and hurt your pupils while you tried to focus your surroundings.

You were in a cell of what looked like a ship and your hands were cuffed.

You sat up slowly, fighting the nausea, when you were surprised to see an imperial soldier moving on the outside of your cell.

Wait a second, surprised?

How on earth could it have surprised you? You should have been able to feel his presence before seeing him… That was awfully strange… but well, you had hit your head pretty hard and you weren't really focused…

Thus, you decided to try to feel him, focussing strongly on your surroundings, on the soldier you now knew was on the other side of the cell, and… nothing.

What was going on?

It was weird how much you were panicking **now**. Up until this point you had managed to stay calm even though you had almost been killed, some of your ribs were clearly fractured, your head hurt, your ears were ringing, and you had been captured by the empire. But now, you had noticed you lacked a sense, your sixth sense, probably your most important sense, since it helped you see when you were blind, hear when you were deaf, feel everything around you... and you felt alone, helpless.

To top it all off, you were feeling weak, extremely weak.

You tried to move again and you noticed something hard pressing on your neck, you lifted your hands and felt your way around what seemed to be some kind of collar. You couldn't see it, so you didn't know what it was, but you could hear it buzzing. Could that be what was causing the loss of your abilities?

Damn. This was all your fault and you knew it.

When the news of the Empire's fall had reached you, you allowed yourself to believe them. To believe that you could, at last, be free and live a normal life, settle in some remote planet, and not worry about the empire and the inquisitors ever again.

Not having to run away sounded so good you allowed yourself to hope… and where had that hope taken you? Into an Empire's cell.

You didn't know how long you'd been there when yet another explosion happened. The trooper, alarmed by it, left the cell bay in hopes of supporting his comrades. You had no idea what was going on, but you could hear the sound of blasters and the soldiers shouting to each other.

Until everything was silent.

"Let's see what we have here" said a male voice when the doors to the cell bay opened. Slave traders. Great. You had already dealt with the likes of them before - been sold by them to be more specific - so you knew there was nothing to be done.

You had to admit a part of you had hoped the New Republic had intercepted the ship, but clearly it wasn't your lucky day (or year, or lifetime).

"Oh, looks like we've hit the jackpot!" He said looking at you "we'll be able to sell you for quite a good amount". You looked at him in the eye, a defiant expression on your face. "Don't look at me like that sweetheart, business is business" he said as he turned around and left.

When the ship landed, they took you to a cell inside of what looked like a hangar. After what felt like a lifetime, one of the slave traders came into the room. He looked more distinguished than the ones that had taken over the ship. His clothes were sophisticated, and his demeanour let you know he was higher class. Probably the head of the organisation.

“You’ve been bought by a very esteemed client of mine” he said "I expect you to behave properly and fulfil all his wishes. His personal guards will get you and escort you to your new home." As he said this four Nikto came in to get you.

You did not fight them, not only because you had no energy left in your body, but because there was no escaping from there. Maybe later, with less people around… but not now.

You were taken to another ship and chained in there. You were exhausted, you had not eaten anything since the tie fighters' attack, and you could barely stand. You sank to the floor and started dozing off.

When you landed, the Nikto awoke you and started pulling from your chains to get you out of the ship. You looked around and saw nothing but sand. You were in what looked like a desert planet which reminded you of Breeka, where you had been sold as a slave many years ago.

What was with desert planets and their love of slave trading?

You were taken inside a building which admittedly looked better on the inside than the outside. The Nikto guards led you through a hall until you reached a door where two other Nikto stood. They opened it and you walked inside a very big room. On ahead of the door was a table and a man sitting in front of it. He looked like the boss, a warlord you assumed, taking everything into account.

A part of you was glad that he was human and not another Nikto or something worse, like a Hutt. You were going to find out soon enough that evil could take any form and be of any race.

_____________

You stopped counting the days after a week, when you realised there was no point in it.

Alexshel (for that was the name of the man who bought you) had given you clean clothes, let you take a bath, and fed you.

At first you thought that, although he obviously wasn’t a good person, he might not be the worst. You had even hoped he took that thing off from your neck - if you could use your abilities again you would be out of this place in minutes. However, you were soon shown how wrong your assumptions were.

He was far from being a decent human being, in fact, he was heinous and had a wicked mind. He not only didn't take the collar off, but he liked you wearing it. It turned him on. He liked the feeling of control it gave him and how submissive it made you look, and he mostly liked how easy it made it for him to choke you with it.

For he liked inflicting you pain more than anything - sometimes he got off just from making you hurt - and he mostly loved choking you. More than once you had thought he was going to kill you as you passed out from the lack of oxygen.

After the first week, you could barely move around from the beating, and talking was almost impossible as your throat hurt continuously. Eating or drinking was painful - not that he fed you properly either, he gave you just enough food for you to stand the next beating, but not so much so you could fight him - and your voice was extremely hoarse.

As time went by, you noticed that you could not talk at all. No sound came out of your throat even if you tried and, when you forced it, you only managed to hurt yourself even more.

Days passed and the abuse you received didn't decrease one bit. The only thing that helped you hang on was the thought that it could be worse, for instance, he had not shared you with the Nikto. Yet.

One afternoon, just before he was going to have his way with you - although he had already given you quite a beating - he was interrupted by the sound of shouts and blasters.

"What the pfassk is going on? Put this on, I'm not finished with you" he said, throwing his jacket to you.

He opened the door to ask the guards what was happening. It seemed someone was attacking the encampment. He came back into the room, grabbed you by the hair and threw you to the floor, handcuffed you, and chained you to the wall.

"If you want a job well done…" he said while leaving the room.

You were trying to pull yourself out of your chains when you heard the cannon blaster shooting. You pitied the poor bastard that had attacked for he was, with no doubt, already dead. Lately there had been numerous attacks to the encampment, none had managed much, and all the attackers had been killed. Alexshel seemed to be surprised by this fact but you suspected he had more enemies than he hinted. Why else would he be on this planet in the middle of nowhere, rarely leaving the building?

You started to feel uneasy when the cannon kept shooting. By this time, they had usually killed the attacker and Alexshel was back… not that you wanted him back, in fact, you couldn't really be bothered if he never came back. What worried you was that whoever replaced him could be even worse.

Suddenly, the blaster sounds came to a halt and there was only silence. You fought your chains harder but only managed to hurt yourself even more - stupid device, if only you could take it off -. Then you heard a loud "thump" and steps coming your way. Again, you couldn't stop yourself to hope for the New Republic, as unlikely as you knew it was.

The steps were getting closer to the door and you also heard a beeping sound going faster and faster - an explosive charge?

The door opened and you were surprised to see an IG unit and a mandalorian. Of course, you had heard the legends about the mandalorians but it was hard to process that just one of them alongside a droid had managed to wipe out the whole encampment.  
They approached and looked down on you. At that moment you were stupidly glad you were wearing Alexshel's jacket. It was three times your size and it fell all the way down to your knees, but at least you weren't completely naked while chained to a wall.

Then, the IG unit raised its blaster and pointed it at your face.

You couldn't believe this was it. After your whole life running, hiding, being alone, and suffering, it couldn't end like this. You were going to die alone, half-naked, and chained to a wall, with no-one to miss you or mourn you… You didn't deserve this ending.

The mandalorian said something to the droid but you weren't listening. This was the end, and it wasn't a fair one. You closed your eyes.


	2. Saved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being saved from slavery you follow a very stoic mandalorian to what seems to be freedom.  
> He seems trustworthy but one can never be too sure. Although, do you have other choice than to trust him?

You heard a gunshot and a “clunk” and when you opened your eyes you were surprised to find the IG unit on the ground, smoke coming out of its head, where the mandalorian had shot it.

He put the blaster away and knelt beside you.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he uncuffed you "Can you walk?"

You nodded.

"Good, follow me" he said as he led the way out. His voice was deep and slightly distorted by the modulator of the helmet.

For a moment you thought about running away, but you were aching, weak, and still wore the weird device around your neck, underneath the jacket. Furthermore, you needed a way out of the planet and you were in no condition to fight a man - for you thought it was a man, though there was no way to know - who had taken down a whole encampment of Nikto.

You followed him.

The two of you had been walking for a while when you heard a slight noise. You were being followed. You wanted to let the mandalorian know but, before you had a chance, he stopped and signalled you to stay still. That's when they attacked. Three lizard-looking guys jumped out of nowhere and started fighting the mandalorian. He was fending against two of them when a third got closer to you. The mandalorian jumped to him and hit him, at the same time pushed you away from the fight making you fall to the ground.

He had already killed two of them when the third one decided to go at you on a full sprint, weapon raised. As he got closer, he suddenly disappeared into thin air. The mandalorian had vaporised him.

He looked to the ground where a small device with a red light was beeping - the same beeping noise you had heard when the mandalorian and the droid had gotten close to the door - he took it and destroyed it.

He knelt beside you and took a look at your knees, as if he was assessing the damage of your fall. There were some scratches but, since you were almost completely covered in bruises and cuts, the new ones were barely visible. "We need to move" he said to you as he stood up, turned around, and kept walking. He wasn't exactly gallant nor polite, bossing you around like that, but at the same time he seemed to care for your well-being… not to forget he had rescued you and saved your life.

Generally, you were a good judge of character and could easily determine if someone was worth your trust or not. Then again, that was usually thanks to your special abilities, they helped you see through people and sometimes even know if they were lying or keeping something from you. Right now, though, you had no idea about his intentions and you didn't know what to make of him.

As night fell, you stopped walking, he made a small fire, and gave you some food. You were glad he'd decided to stop for the night since you weren't sure you could have kept walking for much longer.

He said nothing to you at all. He didn't eat nor drink anything, in fact, he didn't even take his helmet off. You had heard stories about mandalorians always wearing their helmets, but you had always thought it was an exaggeration. You were starting to realise it was just the truth.

After a while, he took a cauterizer out from his belt and started to tend to a wound on his shoulder. Aware that he couldn't reach properly and he most likely couldn't see well with that helmet on, you decided to get closer to him, a bit uneasy, and tried to gesture him that you could help him.

He looked at you for a long moment while he seemed to try to determine if you were skilful enough for such a job. You looked defiantly back at him.

He sighed, "Do you know how to use this?" he asked with a slight tone of scepticism in his voice. You tilted your head in disbelief, sighed, and rolled your eyes before nodding. You got the cauterizer from his hand and got to work. A few minutes later you were done and, although it might have been wrong for you to say it, you had done an exceptional job.

"Thank you" he said and you nodded in understanding. "Rest" he added.

You curled up close to the fire and tried to sleep. It wasn't hard, you were exhausted after all that had happened.

You woke up suddenly from a nightmare, slightly disoriented as where you were until you saw the mandalorian. He was sitting still and he looked asleep. The fire was still burning so you had probably slept no more than a few hours.

After all these years, nightmares were a recurring occurrence. They were an amalgamation of all the things you had been through, and you hated them. The memories haunted you even when you were asleep.

Trying not to think about it, you turned around and tried to fall asleep again. You suspected you would have a rough day tomorrow.

___________________

You woke up when the first light of the day hit your face, nightmare-less this time. The mandalorian was already up and preparing to go. He gave you some water (which you gladly accepted) and the two of you were on the move again.

Yet again, you spent most of the day walking. In the afternoon, at last, you reached what looked like his ship. You hadn't started thinking about sitting down and resting when you realised a bunch of jawas were dismantling it.

"Get down" said the mandalorian as he laid flat on the ground. Doing as you were told, you watched him take out his rifle and start shooting at the jawas. He managed to disintegrate a few of them before they got inside their sandcrawler and started leaving.

"Stay here, I'll be back" he shouted at you as he started following the sandcrawler. You saw him attempting to board it, managing to reach the top, and then fall to the ground.

This was your chance to escape, he was down and quite far, even if he came back to his senses you had the upper hand. Yet, you stayed rooted on the spot without being able to make a decision. On the one hand, you didn’t know if you could trust this stranger, he could be as bad or even worse than your previous captor. On the other, he had been good with you and his ship was your only way out - at least for now -.

Besides, if you thought about it, where would you go even if you escaped? You were on a desert planet where you had not crossed paths with anyone in two days, and neither had seen anything that looked like a settlement or a town…

Hesitantly, you decided to approach him. He laid completely still and you couldn’t help yourself to think that it would be just your luck that he was dead, leaving you on that planet with a useless carcass of a ship…

When you reached him, you shook him a bit but there was no reaction. You shook him again, a bit more vigorously, and he took a deep breath, looked your way, and then sat up.

"I told you to stay" he said. He was a bit obnoxious - you thought - while you looked at him with a look of incredulity and tilted your head.

"Come on" he said as he stood up and walked towards the ship (or what was left of it). You followed suit.

When you got to the ship he started looking all over. It seemed to you the jawas had done a great job dismantling it and taking everything valuable. He went inside the cockpit and tried to start the engine to no avail.

Meanwhile, you sat down on the floor to take a look at your feet. You had been barefoot since you left the encampment and your feet were hurting, not only from walking so much, but from the heat of the sand that had burned and blistered them.

He came down from the cockpit and started rummaging around. You ignored him while you assessed the damage of the soles of your feet.

"Here" he said suddenly, handing you over some clothes and a pair of socks. "They are probably too big, but they're better than nothing"

When you took it, you noticed he was giving you some trousers. This meant he was aware of your nakedness and, as you realised this, you felt blood rushing to your face making you blush fiercely. You nodded while looking down, hoping he hadn't seen your embarrassment. You put on the trousers, folding the waistband a couple of times over itself since they were a few sizes too big, and tucked them into the socks so you wouldn't trip over them.

After a few moments looking around the ship, the mandalorian sighed and started moving. "Come on" he said to you. Again, you followed him, though you couldn't help yourself to think you just wanted to rest.

Night was falling when you finally reached a moisture farm.

"I thought you were dead" said a voice. Then you saw an Ugnaught coming towards you.

The mandalorian and the Ugnaught, who you knew now was called Kuiil, started talking. You had noticed there were plenty of tools all around and while they were distracted, you took a fusioncutter and hid it in your pocket.

Then, you approached them slowly, while looking around and trying not to look suspicious.

"My ship has been destroyed. I'm trapped here." you heard the mandalorian say.

"Stripped. Not destroyed. The Jawas steal. They don't destroy."

"Stolen or destroyed – makes no difference to me." the mandalorian answered back. "They're protected by their crawling fortress. There is no way to recover the parts."

"You can trade."

"With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?"

"I will take you to them. I have spoken." said Kuiil as if he had not heard the mandalorian's retort. Then, he turned towards you and said, "You must be hungry, let's eat".

After dinner, - which you devoured - you were told by the Ugnaught to get some rest since you were going to meet with the jawas early in the morning. You were all inside a room so you curled up in a corner, pretending to be asleep, and waited.

A while later, when the both of them sounded asleep, you took out the fusioncutter, turned it on and faced it towards the device on your neck, moving it slowly. You knew you had to be careful, one wrong move and you'd cut your throat.

Suddenly, the mandalorian sat straight up and grabbed your hand, pulling it away from your neck. "Stop! What do you think you're doing?"

You struggled against his grip as you tried to make him let go of you.

Kuiil had been woken up by the fuss and was wondering what was happening when he noticed the collar on your neck. He came between the two of you, taking the fusioncutter from your hand and making the mandalorian release you. "I think she wants this removed" he said as he came closer to you to take a look at the device. You nodded frantically.

"You could have just asked," the mandalorian said, "I thought…" he cleared his throat and gave a long sigh "can you take it off?" he asked the Ugnaught.

"Yes, it shouldn't be hard, but I've never seen anything of the like. It seems there's some kind of current running through it… but I do not understand what's it for"

He took his time with it. You were sure he was trying to understand what it did or how it worked, but after a while he managed to open it and take it off.

As soon as it was off, a wave of warmness washed over you. You took a deep breath as you closed your eyes and let yourself be immersed by it. Finally, you felt like yourself again. You even felt stronger than you had mere minutes ago.

At last, you could feel all these "weird" things you knew only you felt. It was like getting a sense back - in fact, it was literally that.

As you opened your eyes, you noticed that the mandalorian was looking at you slightly concerned. Concerned? Yes, that was "concern" and you could feel it coming from him even though you couldn't see his face at all. You had a hard time holding a smile at the realisation of this.

Then, you started wondering what was making him feel this way. You were feeling better than you had since you two had met and, even though you were trying to hide your joy, you were quite sure it showed on your face.

"Is this the reason you can't talk?" he asked.

That's when you understood. Even though he had seen your bruised legs and face, this was the first time he was taking a proper look at the extent of your injuries. You knew - even though you couldn't see it - that your neck was in a dreadful state, covered in bruises, cuts, scabs…

You shook your head. "Man" you tried to mouth as you pointed at him so he understood. Then you mimicked the act of choking.

"The man choked you?" asked the mandalorian. You nodded. As all the things that Alexshel had done to you came back to your mind, you started to feel a burn in your eyes and you felt the tears coming. You clenched your jaw and looked away, as you couldn't hold the mandalorian's gaze any longer.

You were quite surprised by the range of emotions that were coming to you from the mandalorian. You could feel a mix of concern, disgust, anger, and something that felt like relief.

"A man?" asked Kuiil "I thought there were only Nikto in there"

"There was a man too" said the mandalorian.

"It's late, we should sleep now. I have spoken."

Glad the conversation was over, as you didn't feel like thinking about it anymore, you curled up and finally got some well-earned sleep.

"You killed the man I assume" asked Kuiil as soon as you fell asleep. The mandalorian nodded. "Good. Someone who does that to a harmless being deserves whatever punishment might come his way. You did the right thing."

"That doesn't matter. I killed everyone there, whether they deserved it or not, that's part of my job" the mandalorian said. "But he did deserve it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's reding this, I'm happy you like it.  
> I'll try to upload the next chapter as soon as possible.


	3. Bargaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuiil helps you to strike a bargain with the jawas in exchange for the ship's parts.  
> Finally, you are going to be able to leave this damn planet, right?

Kuiil woke you in the morning, though it was so early it was still dark outside - or perhaps it was dark because it was raining nonstop. After eating something quick, you were on your way to meet with the jawas. Luckily for you, you didn't go on foot, wet socks for shoes didn't sound very nice.

When you reached upon the jawas' sandcrawler, Kuiil waved to them while saying something in jawa. "They really don't like you for some reason." he said looking at the mandalorian.

"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." You could feel pride in his voice, and you wondered about what part of pursuing a moving fortress on foot, getting electrocuted by a bunch of jawas, and falling from the top of it while unconscious, was he proud of.

Kuiil stopped beside the sandcrawler and turned back "You need to drop your rifle."

"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion."

"Then you're not getting your parts back."

The mandalorian looked at Kuiil for a moment and, after a long sigh, he said "Fine". Then he got off the sled and left his weapon there.

Kuiil dismounted the blurrg and added "and the blaster."

The mandalorian turned around and left the blaster too, "stay here" he added, looking your way.

They sat for the negotiations and a couple of jawas came near you.

"You understand this?!" suddenly exclaimed the mandalorian as he blasted a stream of fire from his flamethrower. At this point, you thought it was safe to assume that the negotiations weren't going well.

Kuiil held him back and spoke to the jawas. Meanwhile, the ones that had approached you were getting closer and you didn't really like it, so you moved your hand slowly towards the mandalorian's rifle beside you.

"Get away from her!" As the mandalorian shouted this, you hit one of the jawas on the head with the butt of the rifle then, you held it in the right position, pointing it at them. The jawas shouted and scattered, and you put the rifle down, though you didn't let go of it.

Kuiil kept talking to the jawas and suddenly they all started chanting something as he groaned and facepalmed himself.

It seemed they were saying something about an egg. You assumed that's what they wanted in exchange for the parts, since you all got into the sandcrawler to go somewhere.

When you got out, the mandalorian turned to you, "you're coming with me, I don't trust these jawas."

After walking for a while, you reached a patch of land completely covered in mud. In the background you could see the entrance to a lair. "Stay here ok?" He said before heading to the lair's entrance.

Nothing happened for a few minutes then, you heard a few shots and, all of a sudden, the mandalorian came flying out of the lair and fell hard on the ground, clearly thrown out by something. That's when you saw the something that had thrown him out. A big animal, covered in hair and mud, with an enormous horn on its forehead.

The mandalorian got up and took out his rifle but, when he shot, nothing happened. While he was trying to fix this, the animal charged towards him and threw him flying again, making him lose grip on the weapon. That's when the beast saw you and decided to charge your way. You barely managed to jump out of the way at the last moment, while it hit the rocks behind where you had been standing with amazing force.

Then it focused its attention back on the mandalorian. It charged at him and kept pounding him against the ground and, as much as the mud could be cushioning the impact, you couldn't help wondering how was he managing to keep fighting after taking such a beating. He tried using his flamethrower against it to no avail, and then tried to hold it with his whipcord, but he only managed to be dragged around through the mud by the beast. When he let go, the animal charged at him once again and threw him flying through the air.

For what felt like a long moment, he laid still, and you were afraid he might be dead. You focused on him; you could feel his pain as he was aching all over but you also felt he was resigned. Slowly, he tried to get up but, as he realised he couldn't even stand completely, he unsheathed a dagger from his boot.

The animal was charging again and you wanted to shout at the mandalorian to get out of the way - though you knew you couldn't - when you saw him hold out the dagger in front of him and look down, as if accepting his fate.

Yet, his hands were shaking and you could feel his emotions.

They overwhelmed you and, before you could stop to think about it, you held your hands up and concentrated on the beast, managing to stop it just before it hit the mandalorian. The animal was strong and it kept struggling against you, stubbornly fixed on hitting the man.

You had to make use of all your energy to hold it, lifting the beast in the air to make it harder to fight against you. But it was still very strong and you were not, at least not at the moment.

The mandalorian stood up and looked at you bewildered; he was definitely having a hard time understanding what was happening.

You started to feel your strength failing, as you tried to hold you could feel the effort draining you. Finally, darkness took you and you fainted.

When you passed out, the animal fell to the ground and the mandalorian took advantage of its confusion and killed it. Then, he headed towards you to make sure you were ok, feeling relieved that you were just unconscious.

He marched back to the jawas carrying both you and the egg. When he got back, the jawas were preparing to leave.

"I have it. I've got The Egg." He shouted, so they would wait.

"I'm surprised you waited." He added to the Ugnaught.

"I'm surprised you took so long. What happened to her? Is she hurt?" Said Kuiil worried.

"No, she just passed out." he said as he carefully lowered you on the sled. "But something strange happened"

The mandalorian didn't want to explain what you had done in front of the jawas, so he waited until they had all the parts back, and they were on their way to the ship. Then, he proceeded to tell the Ugnaught what he had witnessed.

"Is she still sleeping?" Kuiil asked.

"Yes."

"Was she injured?"

"I don't think so." answered the mandalorian "Not physically."

The Ugnaught looked back "Explain it to me again. I still don't understand what happened."

"Neither do I."

For a moment you thought you were back at the repair facility you used to work at. You could hear the noise of repair work, the "clunks" and the "clanks", and you thought that, maybe, all that had happened had been nothing but a bad dream.

But you were hurting too much for it to have been a dream.

When you opened your eyes, you were surprised to see it was the middle of the night. Slowly, you sat up and looked around. You were laying in the sled, beside the mandalorian's ship, which was almost completely repaired.

How long had you been out? You wondered.

"You're awake" Kuiil had approached you while you looked at the ship "we were starting to worry. Here." he said as he handed you some food and water.

You tried to gesture to him that you could help them with the repairs. "You've done enough, now rest. I have spoken."

When morning came, they were finished with the ship and ready to go.

You had reached the conclusion that you had been unconscious at least a few days, maybe a week, mostly because you knew it was impossible that they had put the whole ship together in less time.

You waved Kuiil goodbye as you got into the ship and climbed your way into the cockpit. The mandalorian stayed back to talk to him and you took advantage to take a look around the cockpit, they had made a surprisingly good job with it.

A few minutes later the mandalorian joined you in and you took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank's everyone for the love!  
> As you are probably noticing this is following (at least for now) the mandalorian's main plot, so I hope you are enjoying the ride.  
> Next chapter's already written so it should be up soon.  
> Enjoy your stay :)


	4. Nevarro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finally leaving Arvala-7 the Mandalorian sets course to a planet you've never been before.  
> He says this is where he lives so it must be a safe place.  
> But perhaps it is not safe for you.

After taking off and setting the course, the mandalorian showed you where the refresher was and gave you a change of clothes.

You were in big need of a shower; you couldn't even remember when you had had the last one. Once inside the refresher, you looked at yourself in the tiny mirror to assess your condition.

You looked bad, but you were sure you had looked worse. The bruises on your face were starting to fade and looked greenish on the edges. You had a cut on your forehead, over your right eyebrow, and another one on your lip. Your neck was a mixture of purple, green and yellow, and you had abrasions and cuts from the collar’s friction.

The rest of your body was in a similar state, covered in bruises that were starting to fade and half-healed scratches - another sign of how long you had been unconscious.

After thoroughly enjoying your shower, you got dressed in the clothes the mandalorian had given you. Judging by the size, they were definitely his: the trousers were as big as the ones he had given you before and the t-shirt was also huge, although you were aware this might be just your perception since you were quite petite. Still, it fit you so oversized you could have used it as a short dress, the sleeves were way too long, and the collar fell all the way down to your shoulders leaving them, and the bruises and injuries, exposed.

The mandalorian was standing outside when you walked out - your hair still dripping while you dried it with a towel. As you saw him you took a step back unconsciously. You had been through hell and, even though you could defend now, he was still a man - or at least so you thought - and you knew first hand what men were capable of.

"I've brought you some food, I'll be in the cockpit, you can rest in there" he said while pointing at a compartment door.

You nodded as he headed towards the cockpit with a bowl of food.

When you heard the cockpit doors closing, you took a look around. The compartment door he had pointed opened into what could be called the sleeping quarters. You climbed up and could only wonder how a man his size could sleep comfortably in there. You were sitting with your head touching the ceiling and, when you laid, there was not much space between your shoulders and the walls. In fact, it was quite claustrophobic and you didn't like it.

You got out and continued snooping around. In your inspection, you found a closet full of weapons, many boxes, and what looked like a carbonite freezing system - although you weren't completely sure about that last one since you had only seen one before in your life, and it was half destroyed.

As you finished eating the porridge-like meal, you headed to the cockpit. You weren't really tired and, even if you were, you had decided you weren't going to sleep in that closet. When you opened the doors, you saw the mandalorian listening to a hologram message.

"...he's very antsy. Safe passage. You know where to find me." That was all you got to listen before the hologram ended. 

The mandalorian looked at you as you sat on the chair to his right. "You're not going to sleep?" You shook your head. "Then I am. The destination is set and we are on route, don't touch anything." 

As he walked past you, you grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned around to look at you. "Where?" You mouthed, signaling the ship's panel. 

"Nevarro" he answered, "that's where I live." You nodded and he left the cockpit. 

You hadn't heard of that planet before but, in truth, you hadn't heard of too many planets outside of the Cadavine and the Sanbra sectors - except for the very important ones, of course. Being taken far away was a good thing, in fact, it was the best way for you to disappear. Prior to this moment, you had not been able to go too far away, but now, this mandalorian was taking you to another system for free. You relaxed as you thought about the new start you could have on this planet.

Some hours later, the mandalorian returned to the cockpit and, without saying a word, he sat down. A few more hours went by in silence when he looked at the control panel, and said "we're almost there, buckle up". You did as you were told and finally, about half an hour later, you were entering the atmosphere of a volcanic planet.

As soon as you landed, the mandalorian exited the ship, telling you to follow him. He led the way through the streets of the city. You had felt something that resembled indecision coming from him before, but now he radiated determination. He had told you he lived on this planet and you wondered if maybe he didn't do so on his own and, perhaps, he had doubts about taking you there. Be that as it may, it seemed he had made up his mind and you assumed he was taking you to his home.

On your way there, you couldn't help but notice the vast variety of species you were crossing paths with - some of them were species you had never encountered before - and how most of them gave a long look at the mandalorian.

Soon, you reached a building away from the main street. The mandalorian knocked on the door and an entry sensor appeared speaking in a language you didn't understand. The mandalorian showed it a card and the door opened.

He entered a dim lighted corridor and you followed him. As you did so, the door behind you closed. When he reached another door at the end of the corridor, he stopped and stood to a side, looking at you. You could feel the presence of other people at the other side of the door but, since you had already assumed he didn't live alone, you didn't pay much attention to it.

"Do you know what a Bounty Hunter is?" He suddenly asked. You didn't know what this was all about, but you nodded. "Then, you understand that this isn't personal" as he said this, he pushed the button to open the door in front of you and you were welcomed with the sight of four storm troopers, weapons raised at you.

Instinct kicked in and you tried to walk back, but you bumped the mandalorian's chest plate with your head. He had positioned himself behind you so you couldn't escape. You looked at him, a look of despair and incredulity in your face, you couldn't believe he was doing this to you, after you had trusted him!

Anyhow, now wasn't the time to think about that. You had to leave this place asap. You could use your powers to push the mandalorian aside and run, but then the troopers would have a clear shot of you… you had to think of something else -

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes." A man you hadn't taken notice of spoke. 

He had been sitting behind a table in the middle of the room, but you were so entailed in the troopers and the betrayal, that you hadn't paid attention to anything else. "Please, come in" he said smiling.

You walked into the room, the mandalorian at your heels.

"Your reputation was not unwarranted." He said to the mandalorian.

"How many fobs did you give out?" 

"This asset was of extreme importance to me. I had to ensure its delivery." He said looking at you. "But to the winner…" he added while placing a camtono on the table "go the spoils." He opened it revealing two stacks of ingots.

The mandalorian approached the table to take a closer look. Taking advantage of their distraction you seized the opportunity.

Before none of the men present could react, you lifted the four storm troopers in the air, crashing them against the ceiling. 

"You took off the collar from her?" The man shrieked at the mandalorian.

Then, you put the troopers down, crashing them again against the floor. 

" **I** didn't take anything off" he said calmly.

Finally, you threw the troopers backwards for good measure, crashing them against the walls behind them and knocking them out.

With a swift movement of your hand, you moved the blasters away from the troopers and you drew one to you, catching it with your right hand and pointing it towards the mandalorian. He raised his hands. He didn't seem to want to fight you, but you preferred to take precautions.

You walked to the table as the man rummaged around for a weapon to defend himself. He looked at you with fear in his eyes.

You lifted your left hand and he floated from the ground, choking.

"Please…" he said, looking at the mandalorian "do… something… stop her…" 

The mandalorian didn't move and you pressed harder as he coughed. " _Stun her_ …" he wheezed.

You were so focused on him that it took you a second too long to notice the troopers behind you. As you turned around, they took the shot, and you fell unconscious to the floor.

Once he regained his breath, the man asked another to come. "Dr. Pershing, inspect the asset."

A young man with an afraid look approached you.

"She's a bit malnourished, but healthy nonetheless" he said "Although… her throat's been damaged. She'll recover with time but I doubt she can talk like thi-."

"I don't care if she can talk or not" the man interrupted him angrily. "You know what to do."

They put you on a floating gurney and took you away.

"What are your plans for her?" Asked the mandalorian as he watched you disappear into the next room with the doctor.

"How uncharacteristic of one of your reputation. You have taken both, commission and payment." The man said as the storm troopers came back into the room. "Is it not the code of the guild that these events are now forgotten? That Beskar is enough to make a handsome replacement for your armor. Unfortunately, finding a Mandalorian in these trying times is more difficult than finding the steel."

The mandalorian took a last look at the door you had disappeared through. Then, he took the camtono and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all the love!  
> Things have been a bit crazy and hectic lately so this took a bit longer than I expected.   
> Hope you like it anyways :D


	5. Dazed

You opened your eyes slowly. Your head hurt and you didn't recognise your surroundings. Then, the events of the past days came back to you and you tried to sit up, realising that you were strapped to what looked like an operating table.

Both your arms and legs were cuffed to the table, and you soon realised that they had put another collar around your neck so you couldn't use your abilities.

You looked around the room. There were digital panels all around you but you didn't understand the information they were displaying. At that moment, a round droid approached you. It was floating over you and it reached your outstretched arm to put an IV in it. You struggled a bit but it changed nothing.

"Please don't move, I don't want to hurt you"

Startled, you looked around trying to find whoever had talked. A young man approached you. He was wearing dark glasses and a grey uniform.

"If you move around you could hurt yourself and I would have to sedate you." he added.

How could he be talking to you so calmly in that situation? It was like he was having a nice conversation in a bar with a friend, but meanwhile he was prodding your other arm with another IV. You winced when the syringe pierced your skin.

"I am sorry. I really am, but it'll be better for you if you behave and do as you're told" he said with a sad expression on his face "it's the only way I have to keep you alive, otherwise…" He looked over his shoulder.

You understood what he was saying but just going along with it hadn't proven useful before. You needed to get out of there, so you kept struggling until you felt your strength leaving you.

"Dank farrik" you thought as you lost consciousness "he's sedated me".

_______

"No, no, no, no, please. Please. No. No, no."

You heard a male voice pleading, followed by a blaster shot, and some electric sizzling.

You couldn't for the life of you open your eyes. Your whole body felt heavy and you were having a hard time remembering where you were or what had happened. Everything you heard lacked meaning and you had no idea what was going on.

"No, please. Please, don't hurt her." You heard the voice again as you wondered who he was talking about. '"It's just a girl. Please. No. No!"

You heard a struggle as you finally managed to open your eyes. Everything was blurry.

"Please. No. No, no!" Pleaded the voice again.

"What did you do to her?" Said another voice, deep and slightly distorted. A voice that sounded very familiar to you, but you couldn't pinpoint where you had heard it before.

"I...."

"What did you do to her?!" Said the deep voice again, louder and angrier this time. Suddenly you realised, "her" was you and the voice was the mandalorian that had rescued you… and later betrayed you.

"I... I protected her! I protected her! If it wasn't for me, she would already be dead!" Said the doctor's voice, whimpering as he talked. "Please... please... please, please…"

The familiar helmet appeared in your field of vision. You were very drowsy and just keeping your eyes opened required all of your energy.

"I'm taking you out of here." He said as he released you from the table.

Keeping your eyes open was the most you could do and, every time you blinked you felt as if you wouldn't be able to open them again. Your eyelids felt extremely heavy.

The mandalorian lifted you and carried you out of the room. Mustering all the energy you had left, you lifted your arms to grab onto him.

Blaster sounds surrounded you as you kept losing and regaining consciousness.

"Drop the blaster!" You heard a storm trooper shout.

"Wait. What I'm holding is very valuable. Here…" said the mandalorian as he slowly lowered you to the ground, putting you down carefully.

"Now turn and face me!" Said the trooper. "Stand up!"

Suddenly, you heard a whistling noise, followed by a flash, and you lost consciousness again.

By the time you came by, you could feel the breeze of the night's air on your face, which meant he had somehow managed to get you out of the building.

The mandalorian stopped walking all of a sudden.

"Welcome back, Mando. Now put the package down." Said a voice you recognised from the hologram message. If you hadn't been so drugged, you would have let him know what you thought about being called "package".

"Step aside. I'm going to my ship." Answered the mandalorian.

Even though you couldn't manage to keep your eyes open anymore, you could feel the tension in the man holding you.

"Hm. You put the bounty down and perhaps I'll let you pass."

"The girl's coming with me."

"If you truly care about the girl, then you put her on the speeder and we'll discuss terms." The man told him calmly.

"How do I know I can trust you?" asked the mandalorian warily.

"Because I'm your only hope."

The mandalorian moved again, slowly, and you realised helping you wasn't worth losing his life. You couldn't help but understand it, why would he risk everything for you, when he barely knew you? In fact, you hadn't even said a word to him, let alone your name.

You wanted to let him know that it was ok for him to leave you there, that you couldn't ask him to lay down his life for you, nor would you hold him accountable. But you could hardly keep your eyes open, and all you managed to do was hold your grip onto him a little stronger.

Completely out of the blue, he started shooting at the same time as he jumped on the speeder with you still in his arms, falling on his back, and cushioning your fall with his body.

Shots were flying all around you as he turned over and laid you carefully on the speeder's floor.

"Drive!" He said but the speeder didn't move "Drive!" he said again, louder this time, and you started to move.

Blasters shot all over the place, hitting the speeder and making sparks fly all around you while you were still, lying on your back, unable to move a muscle. Unable to help, unable to escape… rendered completely useless yet again…


	6. Where to?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being rescued yet again, you and the Mandalorian are cornered.  
> Being unable to move, there's nothing you can do.

The speeder crashed against something, coming to a halt and forcing you out of your self-destructive spiral of thought. Someone had shot the droid that drove the speeder. Now, everything was silent, except for the sparks and zapping noises coming from the droid.

With the speeder stationary you were exposed and vulnerable but, before you could start to panic, you heard the distinctive noise of the mandalorian's rifle charging up.

He shot it twice, sending a powerful message, and forcing the attackers into hiding. Everything turned silent.

"That's one impressive weapon." Said the same man that had spoken before.

"Here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna walk to my ship with the girl and you're gonna let it happen." Said the mandalorian, in a surprisingly calm voice given the situation.

"Nah…" the man answered back "How about this: WE take the girl, and if you try to stop us we kill you and we strip your body for parts."

Suddenly, the mandalorian grunted and something fell with a loud thump. You heard an electric discharge followed by a groan, and the shots started flying around again. 

"Don't hit the target!"

The mandalorian moved next to you and you heard him blast a stream of fire from his flamethrower, but he soon ran out of fuel.

He moved closer, until you felt the heat of his body over you. He had placed himself over you, trying to provide you with some protection from the shots with his body. Mustering all your energies, you managed to open your eyes, finding the mandalorian's helmet mere inches away from your face.

You looked at the black slit of glass, where you assumed his eyes were, though all you could see were your own eyes' reflection. You realised you looked scared, so you tried to harden your expression, to somehow let him know that you were alright, that he could surrender.

At that moment, a big blast came out of nowhere knocking one attacker from a roof. A second later, flying mandalorians appeared in the air, shooting around.

One of them landed next to the speeder, holding a huge blaster cannon "Get outta here. We'll hold them off."

"You're going to have to relocate the covert." The mandalorian told him.

"This is the way" was all the answer he gave him.

"This is the way".

As the mandalorian said this, he grabbed you again and started walking towards his ship. You got there without any more drawbacks but, just as you entered the ship, someone came out of the shadows.

"Hold it, Mando."

The mandalorian turned to see the same man from the hologram message pointing a blaster at him.

"I didn't want it to come to this. But then you broke the Code." He said.

Before he had time to fire, the mandalorian shot the control panel of the carbonite freezing system, making it release fumes that filled the whole compartment, making it hard to see anything.

The man started shooting his blaster in a frenzy while the mandalorian turned around, shielding you with his body yet again, and not moving a muscle. When the man stopped shooting, the mandalorian turned again and shot him in the chest, making him fall back and out of the ship.

He closed the entrance ramp and took you to the cockpit. As soon as he left you in the seat you started to doze off again. You couldn't understand why you were so exhausted, the sedative should have worn off by now.

He started the ship and you were flying away from the planet in mere minutes. When you left the atmosphere he made the jump into hyperspace and turned to you.

"You don't look good" he said while pushing a strand of hair out of your face "what did they do?"

You shrugged. Then, you remembered the IVs in your arms and you showed him the marks.

"The necessary material…" he muttered, then he added in a normal tone "they took blood from you and, by the look of it, they overdid it."

That made sense to you, it explained your tiredness even after the sedative had mostly worn off.

He stood up "I'll bring you something to eat".

Then it popped in your mind, it wasn't just the blood loss but the collar too. You had, in your exhaustion, forgotten about it. Before he left, you grabbed his arm and he turned to look at you.

You pointed the device and pulled from it while mouthing "please", an anguished look in your face.

"I'll take that off, don't worry"

He left the cockpit and you doze off again. "Here" his voice woke you. He was handing you a ration bar and something to drink, he also had some tools in his other hand.

"Let me take a look at that" he said when you took the food. You pulled your hair to the side so he could have access to the device. It took him longer to unlock it than it had taken Kuiil but, after some mumbling and swearing, he managed to take it off.

The relief was immediate. Regaining your senses wasn't as overwhelming as it had been in Arvala-7, since the time spent without them hadn't been so long, but it was still breathtaking.

You felt better and stronger almost instantly, and you focused your attention on the food.

He sat down and looked at you while you ate.

"You look better," he said with a slight surprise in his voice, "I'm sorry for what I did".

You shook your head. You couldn't be angry at him after all that had happened, and least when you could feel so much remorse coming from him.

"Why do the Imps want you?"

In response, you lifted the collar from his hand and made it levitate in front of him for a moment before making it float back to him.

"Your powers?" You nodded, although it wasn't that simple.

You had spent your life running from the Empire, to be more specific from the Inquisitors. What they wanted from you was, as far as you knew, to kill you. But these Imps not only weren't Inquisitors, but they clearly wanted something different from you since they had strapped you to an operating table instead of finishing you. Now, what they wanted exactly you didn't know, although you could make an educated guess...

"And this thing…" he continued, looking at the collar "it blocks them?"

You nodded again, as you tried to somehow gesticulate that it also took your strength away. He seemed to understand.

"How does that work? Moving things with your mind..." You shrugged.

Explaining that you somehow could feel and manipulate an energy that was everywhere and all around, and that it also came from all living things, without being able to speak, seemed way too difficult.

He stayed silent, looking at you - or at least his helmet looked in your direction - as you finished eating.

"Where to?" He asked you, as he opened in the ship's control panel a planet chart.

You looked at it quite puzzled, did he want you to choose a destination? You, who had no idea of where anything was? You looked at him dazed.

"Where do I take you? Do you have any family or friends with whom you can stay?"

Ah, that's what he meant! You shook your head slowly. You had no-one, you had never had anybody.

"Ok… we'll try to find some quite outer rim planet where the Imps won't find you."

That sounded good, you thought, although they always seemed to be able to find you…

"In the meantime, what should I call you?" He said as he pointed to the ship's panel for you to write.

You wrote your name down. "Y/N" he read, you nodded. It felt weird to hear your name out loud again, after so long.

You pointed at him, it was only fair that he told you his name too.

"Call me Mando" he said. He seemed to find the situation amusing, though you didn't quite get why. Still, you raised an eyebrow at him with an expression of disbelief in your face. Calling a mandalorian "Mando" sounded ridiculous, and you would have thought he was making fun of you if the man that had attacked you earlier hadn't called him that.

Your train of thought was interrupted when he asked you "Do you know tusken?"

You shook your head.

"It's a complex language with a lot of grunting" he explained "but they also use sign language. I could teach you."

You nodded eagerly. Being unable to communicate was hard and you also wanted to ask some questions to the mandalorian.


End file.
